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Lubbock Christian Women
Lubbock Christian Women Lady Chaps starting from scratch
By DAVE WOHLFARTH
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The gang is gone. The five starters – all of whom played on two national championship teams – have played their last games as Lady Chaps.
Allie Schulte, Ashton Duncan, Laynee Burr, Juliana Robertson and Channing Cunyus have gone their separate ways.
Schulte is teaching at Levelland High School, where her husband, ex-LCU men’s star Parker Hicks, is the boys basketball coach. Coincidentally, Schulte and Hicks were recognized as Lubbock Christian’s scholar-athlete award winners for the Lone Star Conference.
Duncan and Robertson both remain at LCU, in the graduate program specializing in counseling. Burr is studying occupational therapy at Texas Tech. Cunyus also is at Tech, taking business management graduate courses, and is a graduate assistant on the women’s basketball team.
“Those five were here a long time, and they’ve done a lot. From their junior years on, they were really good,” Coach Steve Gomez said. “They were tremendous. They gave a lot. They made a huge imprint on their teammates and the community.”
Schulte, Duncan and Robertson all played a fifth season after the NCAA granted players an extra year of eligibility because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Burr and Cunyus stepped up as senior starters last season after being super subs as juniors.
Fine season despite tough loss
The Lady Chaps actually were seeking a third straight Division II national championship, considering the 2020 season ended – because of the COVID-19 pandemic – just as the Lady Chaps were getting ready for their first South Central Regional game. No national tournament. LCU won national titles in 2019 and 2021.
They didn’t make it last year but still had a fine season. They reached the regional finals but lost a back-and-forth 59-54 decision to West Texas A&M at Canyon. That capped a 28-7 season.
Were the Lady Chaps disappointed not to three-peat?
Lubbock Christian Lady Chaps Roster Name, Ht., Pos., Class, Hometown
Grace Foster, 6-1, F, Soph., Childress, Texas Maci Maddox, 5-7, G, Jr., Lubbock, Texas Audrey Robertson, 5-8, G, Jr., Kerrville, Texas Rachel Haase, 5-8, G, Soph., Amarillo, Texas Taylor Thomas, 5-9, G, Fr., Canyon, Texas Shaylee Stovall, 5-6, G, Jr., Idalou, Texas Carli Bostwick, 5-10, G/F, Soph., Lubbock, Texas Martie McCoy, 5-11, F/G, Fr., Muenster, Texas Audrey Spurgin, 6-2, P, Soph., Fredericksburg, Texas Tia Johnson, 5-9, F/G, Fr., Brownfield, Texas Deja Johnson, 5-9, F/G, Fr., Brownfield, Texas Whitney Cox, 6-1, F, Sr., Flower Mound, Texas Reese Schumann, 6-1, P, Soph., Houston, Texas
Coach: Steve Gomez Asst. Coaches: Vic Self, Kaycie Wilson 2021-2022 record: 28-7, 12-4
Lubbock Christian’s Grace Foster, a 6-1 forward from Childress, goes to the basket against Haylei Janssens of West Texas A&M in the South Central Regional championship game on March 14, 2022, at First United Bank Center in Canyon. (Photo by Mike Haynes)
“No, to do that once is rare. Twice is extremely rare,” Gomez said. “A third is just not what usually happens in sports. To get where they did was remarkable.”
Schulte, a two-time all-American and a starter on both championship teams, was hurting in the Lady Chaps’ last game at WT. In fact, she didn’t even start for the only time in the 32 games she played.
“The game before, she had a knee injury,” Gomez said. “She was fortunate to even play. She was probably about 50 percent.”
Nevertheless, she came off the bench to spark a Lady Chap comeback and finished the game with 12 points, playing only 26 minutes.
The Nazareth native led the Lady Chaps in scoring, averaging 11.7. As an example of a balanced attack, she was followed by Duncan at 10.9 ppg, Burr at 9.5 ppg, Robertson at 8.1 ppg and Cunyus at 8.0 ppg.
Schulte was the assist leader at 3.8 per game and also led in steals with 91 for the season. Robertson had the most rebounds (7.7 per game) and second-most blocks (27). Duncan, the daughter of LCU men’s Coach Todd Duncan, nailed 90 3-point shots, shooting .373 from long range. Cunyus had a better 3-point shooting percentage at .410.
Duncan, Robertson, Burr and Cunyus started all 35 games.
“I really enjoyed last year,” Gomez said. “It was a good year and a fun team to be around with a lot of experience. We had a
(Continued from previous page) tough preseason, and the conference is always tough.”
The Lady Chaps finished fourth in the LSC with a 12-4 league mark. Overall, LCU averaged 65.9 points on offense while giving up 53.1.
Classroom success with 3.805 average GPA
Another accomplishment by last year’s team was in the classroom. The Lady Chaps registered a 3.805 grade point average, the fourth best GPA in all of NCAA Division II.
“These kids realize there’s more to life than basketball,” Gomez said. “That would be shortsighted. These kids are wellbalanced and learn to be responsible on and off the court. They care about school.”
So now Gomez is facing a situation that’s new to him: no returning starters. He’s beginning his 20th season as the Lady Chaps’ mentor, and he’s always had at least one or two returning starters.
He does have nine players who saw some action, however brief, last season.
Grace Foster, a 6-1 sophomore forward from Childress, played in all 35 games and averaged 7.4 ppg. She also led the team in blocks with 28.
Audrey Robertson, younger sister of Juliana Robertson and the third Robertson to play at LCU, started three games and played in all 35. The 5-8 junior guard from Kerrville contributed 4.3 ppg.
Maci Maddox, a 5-7 guard from Frenship, played in 31 games and averaged 2.2 ppg.
Shaylee Stovall, a 5-6 junior guard from Idalou, started one game and saw action in 27.
Gomez indicated Foster, Maddox, Audrey Robertson and Stovall may play a lot this year.
Carli Bostwick, a 5-10 sophomore guard from the Lubbock Titans home school team; Audrey Spurgin, a 6-1 sophomore post from Fredericksburg; Reese Schumann, a 6-2 sophomore post from Clear Lake; Whitney Cox, a 6-1 senior post from Flower Mound; and Rachel Haase, a 5-8 sophomore guard from Amarillo High; all saw scant action last year.
“There will be a lot of opportunities for a lot of kids,” Gomez said. “We have 13 on the team. It’s more of a question of who’s
Grace Foster Audrey Robertson Maci Maddox
not going to play. It’s not clearcut right now, which creates competition, which is good.”
Brylee Winfrey and Savannah Sumrall still are attending LCU but opted not to play this season.
Four freshmen, including twins Tia and Deja Johnson, are on the Lady Chaps roster. The Johnsons, both 5-9 forwards, were instrumental in Brownfield’s 2021 Class 3A state championship. Taylor Thomas, a 5-8 guard from Canyon, and Martie Shaylee Stovall, a 5-6 junior guard from Idalou, brings the ball down McCoy, a 5-11 forward from court for Lubbock Christian against Muenster, are the other two Texas Woman’s University last freshmen. Might those freshmen see season in Lubbock. The Lady Chaps won, 70-62. Stovall played in 27 games for the Lady Chaps in 2021some playing time? 22. (LCU Athletics photo)
“It’s very possible this year, very possible,” Gomez said.
The Lady Chaps do have some positives.
“We’re deeper than last year in terms of some playing experience,” Gomez said, speaking in terms of the number of players who have some varsity court time.
“On the inside, we’ll have better size. A strength would be the ability to share the basketball. Hopefully, we’ll have good balance. We had that last year. That needs to be a strength.”
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LUBBOCK CHRISTIAN LADY CHAPS SCHEDULE
Date Opponent Time Nov. 5 Missouri Southern @ Kansas City, Missouri 3:30 p.m. Nov. 6 Missouri Western @ Kansas City, Missouri 5:30 p.m. Nov. 11 Colorado Christian 6 p.m. Nov. 12 Colorado State Pueblo 6 p.m. Nov. 21 Southwestern Oklahoma State @ Weatherford 5:30 p.m. Nov. 26 Oklahoma City 1 p.m. Nov. 27 Western Colorado 3 p.m. Dec. 1 Oklahoma Christian 5:30 p.m. Dec. 3 Arkansas Fort Smith 1 p.m. Dec. 8 Texas A&M International @ Laredo 6 p.m. Dec. 10 Texas A&M @ Kingsville 1 p.m. Dec. 16 Georgia Southwestern State @ Las, Vegas, NV 2:15 p.m. Dec. 17 Montana State Billings @ Las Vegas, Nevada 4:30 p.m. Dec. 30 Cameron 5:30 p.m. Jan. 1 Midwestern State 1 p.m. Jan. 5 UT Permian Basin @ Odessa 4:15 p.m. Jan. 7 Angelo State @ San Angelo 1 p.m. Jan. 12 Eastern New Mexico 5:30 p.m. Jan. 14 Western New Mexico 1 p.m. Jan. 19 @ UT Tyler 5:30 p.m. Jan. 21 Texas Womans @ Denton 1 p.m. Jan. 26 Midwestern State @ Wichita Falls 5:30 p.m. Jan. 28 Cameron @ Lawton, Oklahoma 1 p.m. Jan. 31 West Texas A&M 5:30 p.m. Feb. 2 Angelo State 5:30 p.m. Feb. 4 UT Permian Basin 1 p.m. Feb. 9 Western New Mexico @ Silver City, N.M. 6:30 p.m. Feb. 11 Eastern New Mexico @ Portales, New Mexico 2 p.m. Feb. 16 St. Mary’s 5:30 p.m. Feb. 18 St. Edward’s 1 p.m. Feb. 23 West Texas A&M @ Canyon 5:30 p.m. Mar. 2 Lone Star Conference @ Frisco TBA
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All 13 hail from Texas
All 13 players on the LCU roster played their high school ball in Texas. That’s a rarity these days.
Cox is the only senior on the team. She is joined by three juniors, five sophomores and four freshmen.
“She’ll need to be a leader,” Gomez said of Cox. “There are some positives to being young.”
Gomez has outlined some goals to bring his young team along quickly.
“We have a rugged routine of working hard and quickly finding an identity,” he said. “We need to see what this group does well. They’ll need to grow in their roles quickly. We can’t wait, because we’ve got a tough schedule.”
That schedule begins Nov. 5-6 when the Lady Chaps will play in the D2CCA Women’s Basketball Tip-Off Classic in Kansas City. They’ll play two Missouri teams: Missouri Southern and Missouri Western.
The Lady Chaps have a home exhibition game scheduled against NAIA Oklahoma City on Nov. 26. LSC play begins Dec. 1.
Gomez guided the Lady Chaps to Division II national championships in 2016, 2019 and 2021. The ’16 and ’21 teams were undefeated.
Before moving to NCAA Division II, his teams dominated the Heartland Conference, winning 118 and losing 17 for an .874 winning percentage.
Gomez is coaching at his college alma mater, where he was a standout guard for the Chaps in the 1980s. He set a school record for free throw percentage at .855.
His 19-year coaching record at LCU is 476-132, a .783 winning percentage.
He’s just a high-percentage guy.
Above, Lubbock Christian assistant coaches Vic Self and Kaycie Wilson and head coach Steve Gomez react to the action in the South Central Regional title game March 14 against West Texas A&M in Canyon. Below, Gomez makes an effort to shake hands with the opposing Lady Buffs, who had just won the game, 59-54. (Photos on this page by Mike Haynes) Maci Maddox, a 5-7 junior guard from Frenship, faces the West Texas A&M defense March 14 in the South Central Regional title game in Canyon. Maddox had 6 points in the 59-54 loss that ended the season.
